Thirteen Years and 30 Days

It’s been 30 days since Jackson became a teenager.

A teenager. I’m slowly getting use to saying that word. Honestly, it still makes me feel a little sick to my stomach. I wrote one of my most heartfelt blogs about his birthday. I usually try to keep everything light and breezy, but it had to be said. Writing is very therapeutic for me and it helped. Thank you all for your responses and emails, they meant the world to me.

I’m still trying to find a way to make time stand still. I feel like the past 13 years have been long, gratefully so, but I have this weird premonition that the next few years will speed by. And I know why. I’m thinking forward (definitely not to be confused with forward thinking).

I’ve been thinking about his next major milestones. High school. Then a driver’s license. I totally dread that! I can tell you right now that I am going to be one of those Moms that doesn’t fall asleep until I hear the garage door opening. The loss of sleep is already pissing me off and it hasn’t even happened yet.

Part of the reason that I am even thinking about his driver’s license is because my man-boy has been talking a lot about cars recently. We drove home together after his baseball game on Sunday, and for most of the hour-long drive, he provided commentary about cars we saw along the way. He talked about makes and models I’d never heard of and different features that make cars more aerodynamic. Boy stuff that I am fascinated by.

Yeah, no, it wasn’t the car talk that got my attention. I became fascinated by the fact that his voice got a little deeper and there was a new tone of authority in his voice that wasn’t there before. It was because he knew more than I did about the subject. And he enjoyed that he knew more than me. I’m cool with that.

I owe it to both of us to stop staring into the future and filling my head with “what ifs” because they become the very distraction that makes your mind wander and prevent you from living in the moment. Jackson can talk about cars all day long, but he’s still three long years away from his driver’s permit. And I have three short years left of blissful sleep. Yay.

Thirteen is a major milestone for boys and girls. In the next couple of months, Jackson will be attending his first Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. If the invitations he has received are an indication of what to expect, the parties are going to be quite fantastic. I’m excited for him to be part of the experience.

When we celebrated Jackson’s 13th birthday, it was very low-key. We had a family dinner, cake and presents. Later, he wants a go-karting or paintball party with his friends, but for the time being he’s been quite chill about his birthday. Despite the fact that Jackson has downplayed this occasion, Kerry and I wanted to give him some symbolic gifts to mark this milestone.

| a roundup of the gifts for his 13th birthday |